Rue's Story
by GuardianVampire13
Summary: Did you ever wonder how Rue ended up in the clearing, slowly dieing? Rated T for later violence.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

I woke up early, carefully rolling out of bed, not to wake up my sisters. I slowly walked down the drafty hall of my house, into the kitchen to make breakfast with what little food we had. It was Reaping Day, the day when they take two children, a boy and a girl, to the Capitol to fight for our lives against 23 other children in the Hunger Games. This was punishment for the rebellion against them 74 years ago.

"Rue? Where are you?" came a soft voice from down the hall.

"I'm in the kitchen, Melly," I said back, "Can you wake up the others? Breakfast is ready."

I heard Melly waking up the others, then the patter of six pairs of feet running towards the kitchen. "What did you make, Rue?" asked Jason, my youngest brother.

I had six siblings, two sisters and four brothers. Melly was the oldest, followed by Mark, then Justin, followed by the twins Lucy and James, then Jason. Melly was only seven, so there was no way that any of them would have to be part of the Hunger Games. The Capitol seems to think it wrong to send anyone younger than twelve into the arena. Well, lucky for me, I turned twelve this year, so I now have the chance of ending up in the hellhole of the arena. Our reaping in District 11 was at one o'clock. I glancecd outside at the sun, and decided that it was about eleven.

"Okay, ladies and gentlemen, cleaning time," I said, leading them down the hall, "Boys first to bathe, girls, pick up the house."

"Okay," they all said together. I walked down the hall into my parents' bedroom.

"Mom. Dad, time to get up. Reaping in two hours," I said.

"Thanks, Rue," said my mom.

I walked out of my room at a quarter to one. "Wow, Rue. You're really pretty," Lucy said, pulling my hair back into a ponytail.

"Thanks, Lucy."

My mother came up to me holding out her hand to walk me to the square. My dad was staying at home with the other children.

I stood at the ridge of the roped off area for the twelve year olds in our district.

Our mayor stood at the podium and recited the history of Panema and told us once again why we have the games. Then our escort, Meggy Ricket, came up to the reaping ball for girls and pulled out a slip of paper. What happened next shocked me hard.

She read off the single name, "Rue Mayle."


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: I don't own Hunger Games, very sadly.**

Shock shot through my body. This was impossible! I couldn't be a tribute, I had to take care of my family!

"Rue! Come on up sweety!" called Meggy. I made my numb legs move forward. Once on the stage, I turned to face to crowd. My eyes flickered to the screens that surround us, reflecting my face across each of them. I looked scared, but determined.

Meggy skipped over to the glass ball and pulled out a slip and read out the name on it. "Thresh Hanthor!" He slowly walked forward, and my knees started knocking at the sight of him. He was huge!

Meggy turned us toward each other and made us shake hands, then dragged us inside to say our goodbyes.

My whole family shoved themselves in, and cried with me. When they had to leave, my friends came in to wish me luck. The trip on the train would have been so long with out the book my best friend gave me. Another friend gave me my token, a luck necklace.

I spent all of my time on the train quitely listening to the conversations of our escort and our mentor, or reading.

After about three days of this, we reached the Capitol. It was amazing, with it's candy colored streets and windows and it's strange fashion. As wwe passed a school yard, I saw a little girl with snowy white wings sticking out of her back, following an older boy withwhat looked like webbed fingers.

We pulled into the station and I grabbed my things, and dashed out of the train and into the car waiting to drive us to the center of the Capitol.

**Sorry it's so short, I was rushing through it. Please review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: I don't own Hunger Games, but, I own Rue's stylist**

I looked in the mirror at my now slightly red body. They had driven us to a building in the Capitol somewhere, and I had just been scrubbed raw, and now they were lathering my body with some sort of lotion that burned at first, then felt really nice. Then one whispered something to the others and they scurried out.

Then a very, let's say, decorated man walked in. He circled me like a hawk, eyeing every part of me, and then he stalked out of the room.

He returned a few minutes later with a garment bag, and gave it to me. He said in a gruff voice, "Put it on, then go in there," as he pointed through a door way.

I looked at the bag, and unzipped it. 'Ugghh' I thought, 'Trees, again'. I slid on the bulky out fit and walked through the door that the man pointed to, and mentally groaned. The counter was COVERED with make-up. I was in for it.

I stumbled out of the room half an hour later, barely recognizable under all of the layers of make-up, making my face look like it was part of the tree. It looked like the other tribute from my district, Thresh, was dressed the same. I looked around at the other districts, which were all keeping to their chariots, and saw the district twelve tributes. They kept my attention the longest, because their costumes baffled me. They wore simple black unitards, with red, yellow and orange capes and headpieces. Either the designers were really stupid or, they didn't care.

Then, when there designers came out, I understood. They were brilliant. They lit the capes and headpieces _on fire_. But it was obviously a Capitol substitute, because the boy and girl didn't hop around ripping the capes and headpieces off. I wish he were my designer, then I would look cooler, have a more exciting costume, and get more sponsors.

I decided I wanted them as allies.

**What do ya think? Good? Bad? Please Review**.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hunger Games.**

Thresh and I stood stalk still on our chariot, so did almost everybody else. The only people who looked relaxed, and even acknowledged their partner tribute, was the District Twelve tributes. They were actually holding hands. They looked so nice with each other, and she was beautiful. She held her head high, and was smiling and waving. He was doing the same, and he repeatedly looked over at her, love so obviously in his eyes.

We got to the Training Center, and we were all sent straight to our rooms. I would have to try during training to talk to them.

I looked around the room, my hair still wet from my shower. I had ordered a plate of chicken, and decided that I wasn't going to go to dinner with the rest of them. I went to the closet, and pulled out a nightgown. I sat down on my bed and picked at the chicken, staring out the window. It was an impressive window, with some kind of computer chip in it. It would focus on any part of the city. I had figured out a way to have it focus on random spots, then change after about a minute.

I stared out the window, trying to figure out why all of the Capitol citizens dress and altered themselves. A knock echoed through my room. "Rue! Come on! It's dinner time!" my escort called through the door.

"I'm not hungry," I called back.

"Well, come anyways. We need to talk about strategies."

"Fine, give me five minutes," I replied.

I walked over to the closet, grabbing a flowy dress made of a really soft fabric, and pulling it on. I walked out of my room, bare footed and hair wet, down the hall and into the dining room where the others were. My mentor, Micky Rige, was sitting, drunken, at the table.

"I love that dress! Hmm that gives me an idea," my stylist said, pulling out a sketch pad and a pencil.

"How do you want to train?" Micky asked.

"Apart," Thresh and I said together. I don't know his motives, but mine were to get near that girl. I wanted her as my ally.

Thresh and I silently sat, both of us picking at the mounds of food in front of us, while the others at the table discussing outfits, and how to distribute gifts for when we are in the arena.

I pushed away from the table, and stalked to the elevator at the end of the hall. I sat in it, not expecting it to go anywhere. So I was very surprised when it took me up to the top floor. I heard forks scrapping plates, and knew that the tributes and their entourage we still eating dinner. I noticed a door at the end of the hallway, one that wasn't on our floor, and decided to investigate.

I opened the door, and walked out into the cool air of night. I walked up the couple of steps, and found myself on a roof top garden. I walked over to the far end of the roof, and looked over the edge. I grew suspicious when I realized that this was open to anybody, surely there must be some sort of was to prevent people from jumping…

I reached out with my hand, and felt it shot back, and felt a bone jarring shock shot through my body. Force field. Note to self: don't touch this.

I heard noises outside the door I had entered through.

"Crap," I muttered. I dove behind a group of plants just big enough to hide me, and listened with all of my might, trying to figure out who had discovered my hiding spot.

"I asked Cinna why they let us up here. Weren't they worried that some of the tributes might decide to jump right over the side?" the boy said.

"What'd he say?" she asked.

"You can't" he said, reaching out to touch the force field. His hand jerked back, just like mine, it even zapped just as loudly. "Some kind of electric field throws you back on the roof."

"Always worried about our safety," she muttered. "Do you think they're watching us now?"

"Maybe. Come see the garden," he said, pulling them out of my hearing range. They had their backs turned, and the wind was blowing hard enough to cover any noise that I made. I ran for the door, and down the hall, almost running into a young man with light brown hair. I didn't stop, terrified I would be in trouble.

I ran back into the elevator, and pressed the button with the number eleven printed on it in neat writing.

I ran and hid in my room. I pulled the covers up to my chin, feeling like I was back home, when I was sick, and Melly took care of me. I knew that if someone got me in the arena, which I wasn't going to let happen, Melly would keep the others fed.

I fell into a fitful sleep, with nightmares of possible ends in the arena haunting me all night long.

**What do ya think? Good? Bad? Please review!**

**Please Note: Flames are banned from this site. Any flames will be tossed into the flame pile for the end of the year bon fire for all of the non-flamers. Please leave a nice comment/constructive criticism for this, in the words of Rachel Joy Scott, will start a chain reaction of the same.**

**~Isabelle~**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hunger Games, or any conversations you may recognize.**

**A/N Sorry I haven't updated in a while. Enjoy!**

"Rue! Wake up! You have training today," Meggy called cheerfully through the door. I got out of bed, and walked to the closet. I pulled out a t shirt and a pair of shorts. I would need to follow her around, find a good time to get her to except me as an ally. I didn't really care for the boy, I wasn't sure if I could trust him. But the girl had volunteered for the other girl, her sister, I'm guessing. Just like I would have done for Melly and the others.

I walked down the hall, and into the elevator, where Thresh was waiting. Meggy must have gone off to do some 'official escort business'. I figured she was at a party or something. I pressed the button for the main floor, where the training was taking place.

I walked in, and saw all of the other districts, save One and Twelve, standing around, waiting for the session to begin. The elevator dinged, which I didn't know it could do, and the One kids strutted out, the girl walking like a Capitol model. The boy held his chest out, looking like the retchingjays that flitted through the apple orchards that I worked in. Retchingjays were the proud and ugly birds that thought they were unbeatable, which made them the easiest ones to take down with a small rock.

The elevator dinged once more, and the Twelve kids walked in, holding hands like they were an inseparable team. They were also dressed the same, they were the only two that were. I saw the girl look around as she came to the same conclusion. She turned slightly red, but recovered quickly. The trainer lady introduced herself, but I wasn't paying attention. They were so close together, I don't think I'll be able to get her to leave him and come join forces with me.

I followed her from one station to another, but never once did she and the boy separate. But I did eventually learn their names. Katniss and Peeta, the District Twelve kids. Maybe in the arena they would take leave of their friendship, and I could ally with Katniss. I could only hope.

The net day went pretty much the same way, except she cast me a glance at the knot tying station.** (Is that right? I can't remember what station that they were at when Peeta pointed Rue out to Katniss. please send me a PM or review that tells me. Gratci!)**

Then came the day of the interview.

**Yay! I finished it! Please, review.**

**~Isabelle~**


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